35 Inspiring Parenting Quotes to Get You Through Difficult Times

When you’ve had a long day and are looking for a quick bit of inspiration just to get you through the evening, here are some fun (and wise!) parenting quotes to reach for.

So much pressure is put on parents, by others and themselves. However, there is no such thing as perfect parents, and there shouldn’t be.

Parenthood quotes remind us of those simple truths and share important words of wisdom for new parents.

Read our selection of quotes about parents and pick your favorite one. Among these quotes about parenting, choose the quotation on parenting that inspires you to become a better parent and a spouse. 

• Being a parent quotes
• Raising a child quotes
• Good parenting quotes
• Father quotes
• Quotes about loving children
• Mother quotes
• Inspirational parenting quotes

Being a parent quotes

Quotes about becoming a parent remind us that it is not an easy job. Furthermore, quotes about raising children teach us that there is no such thing as a perfect parent.

Even if that was possible, that would prevent children from the opportunity of learning how to overcome frustration.  

• “If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.” –Bette Davis

• “When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.” – Nora Ephron

• I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.

• We can never know the love of parents until we become parents. – Henry Ward Beecher

Raising a child quotes

Quotes about parenthood have wisdom that can give some direction in raising kids. Ask parenting experts the top three things you want to instill in your children, and they will say, “Resilience, adaptability, and critical thinking skills.”

To foster resilience, let your children fail; don’t do everything for them. To make them adaptable: put them into situations where they are a bit out of their comfort zone.

Travel with them. And to encourage critical thinking skills, ask them to examine what they see out in the world. 

Raising a child quotes caution from making the mistake of thinking your child owes you their life even though they have their life because of you.

It was a gift! What you can do is protect them, help them navigate the challenges of life, while allowing them to make their own mistakes.

• “It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.”

• “Your children are not your children, they come through you, but they are life itself, wanting to express itself.” Wayne Dyer

• “One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.” –Jane Goodall

• My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it. – Clarence Budington Keller

Related Reading: How Raising Kids Today Is a Lot Different Than 20 Years Ago

Good parenting quotes

It is no secret that children learn by imitating adults. Study shows that they start learning through imitation at the age of 14 months, not only from parents but from strangers too.

What they see is what they will adopt. Additionally, what they imitate will be remembered. Another study showed that 14- to 18- month old babies could demonstrate a behavior 4 months after learning it through imitation.

The old adage “do as I say, not as I do.” is just silly. Your children see you and model themselves after you, so they would never disregard what they are seeing in favor of what you are telling them to do. So be a good example.

Good parenting quotes remind you to show them a good role model; you are setting them up on a good path for life.

Children are the perfect imitators and will copy what they see in the home. Being a good parent quotes invite you to treat your home as the first classroom. 

• “Children will follow your example, not your advice.”

• “Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.” –Lady Bird Johnson

• “Most things are good, and they are the strongest things, but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil.” –Walt Disney

• “But kids don’t stay with you if you do it right. It’s the one job where the better you are, the more surely you won’t be needed in the long run.” ― Barbara Kingsolver

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Father quotes

The positive experiences you provide to your child will multiply. These father’s quotes emphasize the importance of those experiences.

Children will be able to have positive experiences themselves and provide them for others. When learning How to dad, don’t forget fun is an integral part of it. 

Respectful and caring fathers give their daughters directions on what to look for in relationships and how a man should treat them. Keep your promises if you want to teach them to expect that in their relationships.

A father-daughter relationship can set the tone for her future relationships with men. Remember, the empowerment and belief you provide her will follow her in life. 

• Successful Fatherhood involves daily drops of kindness, support, and love. – Reed Markham

• Fathers, be good to your daughters. you are the god and the weight of her world. – John Mayor

• A father is a person who wants his son to be as good a man as he wanted to be. – Frank A. Clark

• My father may not be perfect, but he’s doing what he does best, being my dad. – Adrian A. Jeresano

• Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow. – Reed Markham

• Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.

Related Reading: Tips on How to be a Good Father

Quotes about loving children

It takes a village to raise a child. However, parents have a major role to play. A study shows that parenting practices involving punishment are associated with higher chances of disruptive behavior in children.

Additionally, low levels of affection are related to oppositional behaviors in children. Love and healthy boundaries are important if you want to raise a happy person. Loved children will grow up to become strong adults.

The relationship parents have amongst each other mattes and also affects the children. A study showed when spouses love each other, children stay in school longer and marry later in life.

Don’t put your marriage on the back burner; it will only backfire. When you two are united, you can tackle more challenges, support each other, and free up energy to invest in parenting. 

• “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” – Henry Ward Beecher

• A father sacrifices his needs to fulfill our wants.

• No one in this world can love a girl more than her father. – Michael Ratnadeepak

• Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.

• “Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father! “- Lydia M. Child

• A father is always making his baby into a little woman. and when she is a woman, he turns her back again. – Enid Bagnold

• A girl’s first true love is her father. – Marisol Santiago

• God gave me the greatest gift of all, and I call him dad. – Kenneth Tan

Mother quotes

Parenting quotes suggest that no matter how hard you try, your kids will always have something to tell their therapist about you. If you gave too much freedom, they might say you didn’t care enough.

If you put up too many boundaries, they might say they had no opportunities to try and make mistakes. Inspirational quotes for moms stress it matters that you keep trying to be good enough, not perfect.

What do mother quotes advise if you want to raise a loving child? Show love in your household. Want to raise a child who is curious about the world around him?

Take him on adventures, to foreign countries, to see different cultures and ways of living. Fill your home with books; let them see you reading.

Talk with kindness to each other, so they learn that loving communication is best. Always be conscious that your actions influence your child’s way of viewing the world.

• “There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.” Jill Churchill

• “If you’re worried about being a good mother, it means you already are one.”

• “Kids don’t need a perfect mama. They need a happy one.”
• “When your child has a hard day, they don’t ask, ‘can we talk?’ instead they ask, ‘will you come to play with me?'”

Inspirational parenting quotes

All parents want their children to succeed and become great people. For this to happen, there are 2 major factors to consider – being the person you want them to be and treating them as if they already are like that.

Children learn by imitating, so show them how to do what you expect them to obtain. Furthermore, treat them the way you want them to become – with respect, a positive attitude, and empathy. 

• “What you say to your child becomes his self-narrative.”

• “What a child doesn’t receive, he can later seldom give.”

• “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” –Frederick Douglass

• “As a parent, we try our best to teach our children all about life, but they are the ones teaching us what life is all about.”
• “Be the parent today that you want your kids to remember tomorrow.”

It’s easy to react in frustration when your child has done something time and time again that you’ve told him a million times not to do.

But take a deep breath and count to three. What you say will become their truth. Go back and read more of being a parent quotes or positive parenting quotes. 

These quotes about parenthood share a pearl of wisdom that might not help you out of your next parenting jam. First-time parents’ quotes are inspirational and might help you avoid some parenting troubles.

So don’t just read these parenting quotes—put them to use!